Jethro Tull Newcastle City Hall 1984
Jethro Tull returned to Newcastle City Hall in September 1984. The tour was to promote their new album Under Wraps. This new release introduced an 80s electronic/synth-pop sound, to a mixed reaction from fans and critics. The concert was, however, a big success, with quite a long set drawing from many of Tull’s albums (by 1984 they had released 15 albums!). Tull also played a couple of track from Ian Anderson’s solo album Walk Into Light, which was released in 1983. 
Under Wraps #1; Locomotive Breath (Instrumental intro); Hunting Girl; Under Wraps #1; Later, That Same Evening; Nobody’s Car; Apogee; Thick as a Brick; Level Pegging; Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day; Pussy Willow; Clasp; Living in the Past; Serenade to a Cuckoo; Fat Man; Fly by Night; Made in England; 
European Legacy; Black Sunday; Aqualung; Locomotive Breath; Too Old to Rock ‘n’ Roll, Too Young to Die; Different Germany; Thick as a Brick (reprise).
Thanks to Doug for the picture which was taken at the City Hall at Tull’s visit in 1982. The band at this point consisted of Ian Anderson (flute, vocals and part-time detective for this tour concept), Martin Barre (guitar), Dave Pegg (bass), Peter-John Vettese (keyboards) and new man Doane Perry (drums). The programme consists of photos of the band members, depicting Ian Anderson as a super-sleuth (the subject matter of the songs on Under Wraps is heavily influenced by Ian’s love of espionage fiction), and lyrics from some of the songs which were performed during the concerts.
Posts Tagged ‘gigs’
26 Jul
Jethro Tull Newcastle City Hall 1984
25 Jul
Bruce Springsteen Leeds First Direct Arena 24 July 2013
Bruce Springsteen Leeds Direct Arena 24 July 20
Unbelievable show by Bruce last night in Leeds. Leeds First Direct Arena is a brand new purpose-buily 13,500 seater arena sited right in the centre of Leeds. Last night was the first concert at the venue, although the official opening night is reserved for Elton John in September (or the Kaiser Chiefs! There has been some controversy and bad feeling as to who the actual opener is). The venue has an intimate feel about it, and reminded me of a much larger version of the Odeon and other types of cinema that I went to when I was a kid. There was a lot of anticipation for this gig. Indoor arena shows are rare events for The Boos these days, so fans travelled from all over the work for this concert. 
Tickets sold out in a few minutes and were selling for around £500 each on secondary sites, although prices from the many touts outside the venue were reportedly around £150 a pop. Bruce certainly lived up to the hype. He came on stage shortly before 8pm and played until after 11pm. The show featured lots of requests, taken from the sign waving fans down in the pit, some of whom had been queueing outside the venue for several days to secure a place down the front. Bruce put his heart and soul into the performance, thanking the fans, and naming individuals in the pit who have attended throughout the European tour. At one point he crowd surfed across the hands of fans down the front and later in the show he pulled a whole family (mum, dad, and 5 or 6 daughters) up on to stage to dance with him. The set was a mix of Bruce favourites and some lesser known tracks, delving far back into this catalogue. He played a great version of Credence’s Bad Moon Rising. Another highlight for me was Because the Night. The sound was very clear and loud. He showed us last night just what a rock show can be like. Its going to be a long time before any future visitor to the new arena tops it. Just incredible. 
I was lucky enough to witness Bruce’s first UK show at Hammersmith in 1975, and saw him a couple of times after that, at Newcastle City Hall and St James Park Newcastle. I then lost interest in him, and didn’t pick up on him again until around 10 years ago. Since then I’ve seen him at London O2, Dublin Point, Hampden Park, and Sunderland Stadium of Light. Last night was the best I’ve seen him since those early shows at Hammersmith and the City Hall, and I’m hooked again. Setlist: Roulette; My Love Will Not Let You Down; No Surrender; Something in the Night; American Skin (41 Shots); The Promised Land; Hungry Heart; Local Hero; Gotta Get That Feeling; Bad Moon Rising; Thundercrack; Wrecking Ball; Death to My Hometown; This Depression; Because the Night; Darlington County; Shackled and Drawn; Waitin’ on a Sunny Day; The Rising; Land of Hope and Dreams. Encore: Secret Garden; Atlantic City; Badlands; Born to Run; Dancing in the Dark; Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out; Shout. Encore 2: If I Should Fall Behind; Thunder Road.
24 Jul
Jethro Tull Newcastle City Hall 1982
Jethro Tull Newcastle City Hall 1982
The Broadsword and the Beast tour
The next time I saw Jethro Tull was in 1982 at Newcastle City Hall. They had just released The Broadsword and the Beast which was their 14th studio album. The line-up of Tull at the time was: Ian Anderson on vocals, flute, acoustic guitar, crazy dance and cocked leg; Martin Barre on wondrous electric guitars; Dave Pegg (ex-Fairport and friendly folkie) on bass guitar; Peter Vettese on keyboards; and Gerry Conway on drums. There was no support act, and the ticket made sure that we knew: “Please note. No support Jethro Tull on Stage 8pm prompt”. This was quite a theatrical show with lots of props and the band wearing medieval clothing. The set was a mix of old and new, with quite a few acoustic songs. I was still concerned about the folk influence at this stage, but enjoyed the show, as always. 
Setlist: Clasp, Hunting Girl, Fallen On Hard Times, Pussy Willow, Broadsword, Jack-In-The-Green, Seal Driver, Heavy Horses, Weathercock/Fire At Midnight/Flute Solo (including God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and Bourée)/Sweet Dream, Flying Colours, Songs From The Wood, Watching Me Watching You, The Swirling Pit, Pibroch, Beastie, Too Old To Rock’N’Roll…, Aqualung, Minstrel In The Gallery, Locomotive Breath/Black Sunday, Cheerio
Thanks to Doug for the picture, which he took at this gig, showing Martin Barre in his best gear.
A bootleg recording of the Newcastle gig exists, often entitled “The Beastie of Newcastle”.
“Bring me my broadsword and clear understanding. Bring me my cross of gold as a talisman.
Bless with a hard heart those who surround me. Bless the women and children who firm our hands.
Put our backs to the north wind. Hold fast by the river.
Sweet memories to drive us on for the motherland”
(The Broadsword and the Best, Ian Anderson, 1982)
22 Jul
Jethro Tull Newcastle City Hall 1977
Jethro Tull Newcastle City Hall 1977
In 1977 Jethro Tull released Songs from the Wood, which was their tenth studio album, and the first of a trio of folk rock albums, the others being Heavy Horses. Of course, folk influences had always been apparent in Jethro Tull’s music, but on Songs from the Wood, they came to the fore. At the time I couldn’t quite get away with this change of style. I much preferred the rockier, blues-oriented side of Tull. Looking back this album and Heavy Horses were two of their best, and the 1977 tour was also excellent. There were also some line-up changes in the Tull fold. David Palmer, who had worked with the band from the early days as their orchestral arranger, joined as a full-time member of keyboards, and John Glascock joined on bass. Glascock was familiar to me, as I had seen him play alongside Stan Webb in Chicken Shack at some great gigs in the early 70s. 
The programme tells me that the support act for the 1977 tour was Leo Kottke, but I have no recollection of seeing him play that night. However, I do remember seeing Leo play at the Cambridge folk festival a couple of years earlier. He is a great acoustic guitarist who plays some amazing slide guitar on tracks like Vaseline Machine Gun. As you would expect, Tull’s set included a few songs from Songs from the Wood, along with old favourites. At the time I was very unsure about the new acoustic tracks, but songs like Jack-in-the-Green and Songs from the Wood stand up against some of Tull’s best. Setlist: Wond’ring Aloud; Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day; Jack-in-the-Green; Thick as a Brick; Songs from the Wood; Conundrum; To Cry You a Song; A New Day Yesterday (with flute solo including Bouree); Velvet Green; Hunting Girl; Too Old to Rock ‘n’ Roll, Too Young to Die; Beethoven’s 9th; Minstrel in the Gallery; Aqualung; Wind Up; Back-Door Angels. Encore: Locomotive Breath
21 Jul
Jethro Tull War Child tour Newcastle Odeon November 1974
Jethro Tull War Child tour Newcastle Odeon November 1974
Jethro Tull returned to Newcastle in November 1974, during the tour to promote the War Child album. Support for the tour was all-girl band Fanny. This time Tull had graduated to playing the massive Odeon theatre, which hosted a number of gigs in the early 70s and had a slightly larger capacity to that of the City Hall. Ian Anderson and co were at their pomp best at the time, and this album and tour saw them returning to straight songs after the concept albums Thick as a Brick and Passion Play. 
The single from the album was Bungle in the Jungle, which was quirky but also pretty catchy. If I remember correctly, Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond did a nifty version of (How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window? during the concert, and the band was accompanied by a string quartet. This was classic Tull at their best. Setlist: Minstrel in the Gallery; Wind Up; A Passion Play (excerpt); Thick as a Brick; My God (including Flute Solo with Bouree); Cross-Eyed Mary; (How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?; Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day; Wond’ring Aloud; Ladies; War Child; Sealion; Bungle in the Jungle; Aqualung; Back-Door Angels; Locomotive Breath; Hard-Headed English General; Back-Door Angels (reprise)
20 Jul
Jethro Tull Sunderland Top Rank 1972
Jethro Tull Sunderland Top Rank 1972
There is a story surrounding this gig. You won’t find it listed in any of the Tull gig histories on the internet, but it definitely took place, and I remember it well. I first heard of this gig directly from the local promoter Geoff Docherty. I was in the Rink (or Sunderland Top Rank to give it is formal name) buying tickets for another event, and Geoff was in there ay the same time. “I’ve got Jethro Tull coming in a few weeks time” he said. Now I already had a ticket to see Tull play at the City Hall in early 1972, as part of the tour that they were doing to promote their new lp Thick as a Brick (TAAB). The tour was already advertised, and the only North East date was the City Hall concert, so an extra Sunderland date prior to the tour didn’t seem very likely. But sure enough, posters advertising the gig with support Tir Na Nog soon appeared outside the Rink, and I bought tickets with a group of mates. Gigs at the Rink at that time tended to be on a Sunday night, and I think that was the case for this concert. The gig was obviously a warm-up for the TAAB tour. I returned my ticket for the City Hall (they would let you do that in those days, as long as they could sell it on), as I didn’t fancy seeing the band twice within a few days (big mistake, as it turned out). 
The night of the Sunderland gig came, and it was excellent. It was great to see Tull play in a relatively small ballroom venue, and I was right down the front, straight in front of Ian Anderson. The place was full, but not too packed. But the gig wasn’t quite what I had expected. First Tir Na Nog didn’t play. They were support for the main TAAB tour, but weren’t at this gig. And the other surprise was the set itself. I was expected an early run through of the Thick as a Brick album, but what we got that night was a Jethro Tull favourites set, which was great, but it also meant that I never got to see TAAB played live in its entirity until recently. The strange thing was the band had the stage set up ready for the TAAB show, with the telephone there ready to ring, but they didn’t perform any of the album. Anyway it was a great gig. Looking back I should have made the effort to go along to the City Hall as well. Not sure why I didn’t. Maybe it was sold out by that point, not that that usually stopped me. Oh well, writing this blog sometimes unearths regrets that I have about gigs that I missed, but hey ho such is life :). The line up of the band had changed since the last time I saw them with Barriemore Barlow replacing Clive Bunker on drums. Thanks to John for the scan of his poster and to Doug for the photograph of Ian Anderson, which he took at Newcastle City Hall some years after this gig.
19 Jul
Jethro Tull Sunderland Empire March 1971
Jethro Tull Sunderland Empire March 1971
Jethro Tull are a special band to me. They are one of those bands I grew up with. I was heavily into them in the early 70s, as were many of my mates, and Stand Up was an album that we listened to again and again. I remember marvelling at Ian Anderson on Top of the Pops, his mad crazy eyes staring at me through the TV, and his eccentric garb shocking my parents. Their early singles were classics. My favourites were The Witches Promise, Teacher and Sweet Dream. I first saw Jethro Tull in concert at Sunderland Empire on 20 March 1971, the day after their classic album Aqualung was released.I was 14 years old at the time. Early gigs are very important in shaping musical tastes for the rest of your life, and this one certainly did that for me. Tull played two shows at the Empire that evening, and I decided to go along to the late show with a few mates. We felt very grown up, being allowed to go to the “late” show, and felt sure that the band would play better at the second concert. We had good seats in the “slipper” to the left of the stage. Support for the gig was Steeleye Span, a newly formed folk-rock band, who delivered a pretty good set. But we were there to see our heroes Jethro Tull. By this relatively early point in their career, their line-up had already changed several times, and was Ian Anderson on flute and vocals, Martin Barre on guitar, Clive Bunker on drums, John Evan on keyboards and Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond on bass. I think they started with Nothing is Easy, and the set featured a number of Tull favourites, and some tracks from the Aqualung album. We were just blown away by Jethro Tull that night, and by Ian Anderson in particular, who is one of the most charismatic performers, and was at the height of his craziness in those days. And so started a lifelong obsession with this band. I have seen them quite a few times since that gig, and watched their line-up and their musical style change over the years. But in those days in the early 70s so many years ago for me and a group of mates, Jethro Tull were legends and were one of the bands that we returned to again and again. Published setlist from a gig in 1971: Nothing Is Easy; Aqualung; With You There to Help Me; By Kind Permission Of; Sossity: You’re a Woman; Reasons for Waiting; My God; Cross-Eyed Mary; Wind Up; Locomotive Breath; Hard-Headed English General; Wind Up (reprise)
17 Jul
The Jam Newcastle City Hall 1980 and 1982
The Jam Newcastle City Hall 1980 and 1982
The Jam were back at the City Hall in 1980 and 1982, playing a couple of nights each time. Support for the 1980 concert was The Piranhas who hit the charts with their cover of Tom Hart. A bootleg exists for this concert which shows the setlist as: Thick As Thieves/Boy About Town/Monday/Going Underground/Pretty Green/Man In The Corner Shop/Set The House Ablaze/Private Hell/This Is The Modern World/Little Boy Soldiers/But I’m Different Now/Start!/Scrape Away/When You’re Young/The Eton Rifles 
Two years later and they were back again, this time supported by The Questions, who were signed to Paul Weller’s record label. They also wrote some songs for Weller protege Tracie Young (aka Tracie). 
The ticket also mentions a local support act, but I’m afraid I can’t remember who that was. By 1982 The Jam had released six albums, and had hit the charts many times, including three Number 1s. Town Called Malice was Number 1 in 1982, and the band were riding the crest of a wave. However Paul Weller was beginning to feel that this was the end of The Jam and the band was soon to disband. I would see The Jam, once more which I will write about tomorrow. Looking back this band left a legacy of great singles, and some great live performances.
16 Jul
The Jam Newcastle City Hall 1979
The Jam Newcastle City Hall 1979
The Jam called at the City Hall twice in 1979, once in May, and again in December. Both gigs were glorious occasions. By now Paul Weller was developing as a songwriter, and the concert set was changing all the time. Live favourites of mine were David Watts, Billy Hunt, the wonderful Away From the Numbers, all the singles, and Smithers-Jones. Their cover of Batman still appeared now and then and was always good fun. The beautiful Butterfly Collector was also part of the set by late 1979, and remains a favourite to this day. 
Paul Weller was just on fire at these gigs, spitting and snarling the vocals, with Bruce Foxton bopping about alongside him, and Rick Buckler smashing away at the back.
Setlist from London Rainbow Theatre show of the December 1979 tour: Girl on the Phone; To Be Someone (Didn’t We Have a Nice Time); It’s Too Bad; Burning Sky; Away From the Numbers; Smithers-Jones; The Modern World; Mr Clean; The Butterfly Collector; Private Hell; Thick as Thieves; When You’re Young; Strange Town; The Eton Rifles; Down in the Tube Station at Midnight; Saturday’s Kids; All Mod Cons; David Watts
Support for the December tour came from The Vapors who were to hit the charts with Turning Japanese. The programme for the Spring Tour 1979 has some smashing period advertisements. I am invited to buy Jam Shoes from Shelly’s of London. The come in “all colours”: white and platted, black and platted, black and white, red and white, red and beige, etc. Just send £12.99 plus £1 postage. Jam Jackets in plain colours (£35) and Union Jack (£55), from Carnaby Cavern Ltd (we supply The Jam, The Four Tops, so why not you?). “Mod” Parka, genuine american fishtail parka as word in the 60s, US Army surplus, not new but in good condition, only £12.50, from ACME Clothing Co. Wow! What a wardrobe. I wonder if I send my cheque off now I can still buy these. They would sure look great to wear the next time I see The Who or Paul Weller 🙂 !
15 Jul
The Jam 1977 and 1978
The Jam 1977 and 1978
When we think of late 70s punk rock, we have a certain image of safety pins, spitting, the pogo, and fast furious rebellious rock. In reality the punk scene was a pretty broad church, which drew from a wide range of influences. The Jam burst onto the scene in 1977, blending mod, sharp suits, with attitude, arrogance and great catchy pop songs. They had obviously been influenced by, soul, R&B, The Who and The Small Faces and you could tell that lead singer and guitarist Paul Weller was a big fan of Steve Marriott and Pete Townshend. I attended a few early Jam concerts in the North East, at Newcastle Mayfair and at Sunderland Seaburn Hall. These gigs were pretty wild affairs with Weller and the guys having to dodge a hail of glasses (and they were real glass in those days, not plastic) and waves of spit. The Seaburn Hall gig was particularly ferocious; it was attended by a group of skinheads (“We hate punks”) who were looking for trouble and there were several scuffles. The Jam set in those days drew from their first album, their early singles, and a nifty cover of the Batman them closed the show. They were a breath of fresh air and it was evident even at those early gigs, that this was a band that stood above the rest, and would ultimately transcend the punk movement. By 1978 The Jam had graduated to playing Newcastle City Hall, a venue that would be host to some great Jam gigs over the next few years. I also saw them headline the Friday night of the Reading festival in the same year. Sample Jam setlist from 1978: The Modern World; London Traffic; I Need You (For Someone); The Combine; Aunties & Aunts; Standards; Here Comes the Weekend; Sounds From the Street; News of the World; London Girl; In the Street, Today; Bricks and Mortar; In the City; In the Midnight Hour; Carnaby Street; All Around the World. I think support for this gig was Patrick Fitzgerald and The Dickies?
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